Vasyl Lomachenko and Alexander Usyk are Ukraine’s only boxers to have won gold medals in both the 2011 world amateur championship and 2012 London Olympics. They were teammates on the “Ukrainian Otamans” WSB team during the 2012/2013 season. They are still close friends after signing their pro contracts with top promotional companies.

This past Saturday, Lomachenko (1-0, 1 KO) brilliantly debuted as a pro in Las Vegas by stopping Mexican fighter Jose Ramirez (25-4) in less than four completed rounds. Usyk took his time to fly overseas, to the States, to see his buddy fighting and was positively impressed.

“I’ve got only the brightest impressions of Vasyl’s pro debut and his fight. Vasya is like a brother to me. Certainly, I couldn’t miss it and I interrupted my camp to support him. His victory was very impressive. I’ve got a lot of positive impressions, and now I’m back into training twice as excited as before. I’m ready to win!”, stated Usyk.

Usyk debuts as a pro on Nov. 9 at the Palace of Sports in Kiev, Ukraine, under K2 Promotions. He faces Mexican veteran Jorge Romero (16-7-1, 11 KOs), while a co-main event will feature Vyacheslav Uzelkov against 2007 Contender finalist Jaidon Condrington.